Maoist bandh peaceful in Sundergarh

The 24-hour bandh call given by Maoists passed off peacefully ending midnight on Wednesday in Maoist-hit district of Sundergarh in western Orissa.

Maoist had given the bandh call in Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in protest against the police harassment to innocent people branding them Maoists and banning the organisation by the Centre.

The bandh evoked little response in urban areas while its impact was found in rural and semi-urban pockets of the district paralyzing normal life, disrupting mining operation and passenger buses remaining off the road.

The raw material transportation was totally affected by heavy vehicles and goods trains also did not run, officials said.

The bandh after recent killing of police sub-inspector (SI), Ajit Bardhan and death of a CRPF personnel in Sundergarh was observed in Maoist-prone police stations bordering Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.